1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a waterless urinal and, more particularly, to a waterless urinal designed for improved maintenance thereof by providing a removable sealed odor trap and other features.
2. Description of Related Art
With increasing emphasis on water conservation, there is continuing interest in toilets and urinals designed to minimize the amount of water consumed in flushing and to mitigate excessive demands on both water supplies and wastewater disposal systems, both of which have tended to become overloaded with increasing populations.
Sanitation codes require urinals to provide an odor seal to contain gasses and odors which develop in the drain system; this function is conventionally performed by the well known P-trap or S-trap in which the seal is formed by a residual portion of the flushing water. This seal effectively provides a barrier to sewer odors from passing from the drainpipe beyond the trap. However, the upward-facing liquid surface communicates freely with the user environment and, therefore, the trap must be kept free of residual urine by copious flushing to prevent unacceptable odor levels from the liquid in the trap. As a result, a large amount of water is consumed in flushing these conventional urinals. Especially in the United States over many years when water was cheap and plentiful, conventional flushing type urinals and water-wasteful toilets held an unchallenged monopoly. However, more recently, threatened and real water shortages have aroused new environmental concerns and heightened conservation awareness as evidenced by the introduction of low flush toilets. As the cost of water increases and budgets tighten, the prospect of a viable waterless urinal system becomes extremely attractive to a wide range of public agencies, cities, states, penal institutions, defense establishments, recreational and parks departments and the like.
Waterless urinals utilizing oil-sealed odor traps have now become viable. Examples of existing waterless urinals utilizing oil-sealed odor traps are disclosed in International Publication No. WO 94/25693 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,711,037. These prior art waterless urinals include a bell trap embodied as a removable disposable cartridge. Use of the disposable cartridge provides a continual cost expenditure requirement during the lifetime of the waterless urinal. Additionally, it is necessary to maintain a readily available and accessible supply of cartridges to maintenance personnel who service the waterless urinal. Furthermore, proprietary cartridges may present shortage or unavailability issues in the future, which may lead to increased costs associated with the disposable cartridges. Consequently, parties responsible for servicing the waterless urinal may be required to maintain a continual inventory of the disposable cartridges, which may also contribute to increased costs.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide a waterless urinal utilizing an oil-sealed odor trap that does not rely on a disposable cartridge system. Specifically, such a waterless urinal would be conducive to improved maintenance thereof, lowered operating costs, and improved functionality over existing waterless urinals.